CONFIDENCES OF CLIENT FEDERAL INVESTIGATION  Where federal
authorities are investigating alleged violations of federal wire tapping laws, an attorney
is prohibited from disclosing information in his possession which was obtained by tapping
the telephone wires of an adverse party, even though the information was obtained in that
manner without the attorney's knowledge.

The attorney for one of the parties to a divorce suit employed a private investigator
to obtain information for his client. Without the knowledge of the attorney, the
investigator tapped the telephone wire of the adverse party and recorded conversations
overheard by means of the tapped wire. Records of the conversations were delivered
to the attorney who hd employed the investigator. Federal authorities, investigating
alleged violations of federal laws in connection with wire tapping, have asked the
attorney to divulge the information which he received from the investigator. The
following questions were submitted:

Would the attorney violate any statute by divulging such information?

Would the attorney violate the Canons of Ethics if he divulged such information to
federal investigators?

Opinion

It is our opinion that the committee should decline to answer question No. 1 because it
is outside the scope of the committee's functions. (8-0). Concerning question No. 2,
the committee is of the opinion that it would violate Canon 34 for the attorney to reveal
the described information to federal investigators. (5-2)